The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea, botanically known as Hydrangea macrophylla and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Robert’.
The new Hydrangea is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Grand Haven, Mich. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new Hydrangeas with attractive foliage and flower coloration.
The new Hydrangea originated from an open-pollination in July, 2003 of the Hydrangea macrophylla cultivar Bailmer, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,298, as the female, or seed parent and an unknown selection of Hydrangea macrophylla. The cultivar Robert was discovered and selected by the Inventor in May, 2005 as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated open-pollination in a controlled environment in Grand Haven, Mich.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by softwood cuttings in Grand Haven, Mich. since June, 2005 has shown that the unique features of this new Hydrangea plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.